10 Grisly Horror Movies With Surprisingly Beautiful Music Scores
8. Black Death (2010)
Composer: Christian Henson
Listen To: "End"
Offering one of the more damning messages against organized religion, Black Death is a gothic masterpiece of horrific historical fiction. Set in 1348 during the Black Plague's infection of Europe, Black Death follows a band of mercenaries on a holy mission to a marshy stronghold that has proven immune to the disease's rampancy.
Advised that a necromancer has cast a spell of protection over the town, Ulrich (Sean Bean playing the knighted leader of the mercenaries) is tasked with capturing the sorcerer, ridding the community of its pagan ways and reporting his find back to the Bishop. But first, he must find a monk to guide him...
At once a coming-of-age narrative and a brutally forward depiction of the errors of religious zealotry, Black Death is one hell of a downbeat film with an ending as emotionally devastating as it is audacious.
Christian Henson's score is a somber accompaniment to the band's struggles as, over time, their ranks are gradually dwindled by either infection, violence or concoction of the two. Like a palindrome, monkish chants both begin and end the soundtrack, but it's the classical orchestrations in between that reap the most sentiment.
Songs like "Brotherhood" and "Ulrich" are amongst the most powerful as they utilize a consistent theme to exude the fruitlessness of the troupe's journey and the hubris that goes along with it.
Nearly every moment of barbarity herein is met with a despondent use of instruments so as to reinforce that there is nothing triumphant about this quest; no joy to be had in taking life--only an emotional toll.
The final track, appropriately titled "End", summarizes the tragedy of each character into one arresting hymn (or is that anti-hymn?). There are no victors in this tale, no people that may be saved and no opposing force to fight other than that of misguided human ideals.